'What are you waiting for?'

March 07, 2013

Gov. Pat Quinn used more than 40 versions of the word “pension” during Wednesday's budget address but there was no action on reform measures. (Antonio Perez, Chicago Tribune)

Moments after Gov. Pat Quinn's budget address Wednesday in Springfield, freshman state Rep. John Cabello stepped out of the House chamber to answer questions. To the simplest, "How's it going?" the newly sworn-in Republican from the Rockford area said:

"Horrible. We're not doing anything. Have we done anything? No. We should be locked in the House chamber, no food, no water, no bathroom breaks, until the pension problem is solved and we get to the backlog of unpaid bills."

Instead, the House and Senate adjourned to committees to consider anything but pension reform.

Welcome to Springfield, Mr. Cabello.

At times enunciating loudly and wagging his finger, Quinn spent much of his speech reminding lawmakers of the need to reform pensions. He used versions of the word "pension" 42 times.

"We all know that we must reform the Illinois public pension system. So, members of the General Assembly, what are you waiting for?" Quinn asked.

The governor should have turned and put that to the guy standing behind him in a navy blue suit. House Speaker Michael Madigan, more than anyone else in Illinois, is slow-walking pension reforms.

Senate President John Cullerton and Republicans in both the House and Senate have said they want not only to work on a pension bill, but to bring one up for a vote. The Senate may advance several pension bills next week. Members on that side of the dome voted on a scaled-down pension bill last spring.

Madigan's contribution of late? He has introduced pension amendments that he knows have no support: Last week, the House voted on amendments that would have eliminated cost of living increases for retired employees, prohibited cost of living increases in years the pension funds weren't 80 percent funded and required government employees to pay 5 percentage points more toward their retirement accounts.

Madigan called those amendments to the floor knowing they would have little, if any, support. Of course, the amendments failed. We don't understand Madigan's gamesmanship. But what a waste of time.

Quinn was right to point the finger at the Legislature for failing to get pension reform done. But he should have noted that Democratic members of Madigan's caucus are responsible, too. They're too timid to confront their leader.

Two years ago, on Feb. 8, 2011, Madigan told House members: "We're all familiar with the inadequate funding of the state pension systems. Again, tough decision-making, telling people, 'You're not going to get everything you thought you were going to get,' telling people, 'You may have to pay in more.' Not easy stuff. So we all better get ready for it."

Ready. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

And if Cullerton doesn't demonstrate soon that he's serious — he promised immediate pension reform during a speech to the City Club of Chicago in January — we'll add his face to the dart board. Members of the General Assembly were sworn in Jan. 9. Two months later, they've done nothing to address the state's most lethal problems.

As a result, money owed to the pension systems continues to devour state resources. Pension costs consume 21.5 percent of his proposed budget. One impact: Having watched state school funding fall by 11.1 percent over the last five years, Quinn proposes cutting by another $400 million the education budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

• To the north, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker during his budget address Feb. 20 proposed an income tax cut of $343 million. Overall, his plan included $630 million in tax cuts. His budget included an expansion of school vouchers and $475 million in new money for K-12 education. Walker didn't mention the word "pension" once during his speech. That's because Wisconsin's pension funds are almost fully funded.

• To the west, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad's Jan. 15 budget address included $400 million in property tax relief over five years. He proposed boosting teachers' starting pay from $28,000 to $35,000. No mention of pension problems there, either.

• To the east, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is pushing for a 10 percent cut in the state income tax. During his January budget speech, he proposed increasing education funding by $63 million. Oh, and the Indiana House already passed a budget, weeks after Pence unveiled his blueprint. Those pension funds? Nearly fully funded.

Last year the National Association of State Budget Officers said of state budgets nationwide: "Slowly improving economic conditions have given governors an opportunity to fund some of their top priorities and to examine what previous spending cuts could possibly be restored. One area in which a number of governors have proposed increased spending is in elementary and secondary education."

Not Illinois. Not here. Our income taxes rose, our school funding fell, the state can't pay its bills, and the Legislature won't fix a pension crisis that aggravates each of those Illinois failures.